2 Samuel 1
1 After Saul died, David [and the men who were with him] returned to Ziklag [town] after defeating the descendants of Amalek. They stayed in Ziklag for two days.
Now it came to pass, after Saul was dead, that David returned from the slaughter of the Amalecites, and abode two days in Siceleg.
2 On the third day, unexpectedly a man arrived there who had come from where Saul’s army was camped. He had torn his clothes and put dust on his head [to show that he was grieving]. He came to David, and prostrated himself on the ground [in front of David to show respect for him].
And on the third day, there appeared a man who came out of Saul’s camp, with his garments rent, and dust strewed on his head: and when he came to David, he fell upon his face, and adored.
3 David asked him, “Where have you come from?” The man replied, “I escaped from where the Israeli army had been camped.”
And David said to him: From whence comest thou? And he said to him: I am fled out of the camp of Israel.
4 David asked him, “What happened? Tell me [about the battle]!” The man replied, “The Israeli soldiers ran away from the battle. Many of them were killed. And Saul and his son Jonathan (are dead/were also killed).”
And David said unto him: What is the matter that is come to pass? tell me. He said: The people are fled from the battle, and many of the people are fallen and dead: moreover Saul and Jonathan his son are slain.
5 David said to the young man, “How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?”
And David said to the young man that told him: How knowest thou that Saul and Jonathan his son, are dead?
6 The young man replied, “It happened that I was on Gilboa Mountain [where the battle occurred], and I saw Saul, leaning on his spear. The [enemy] chariots and their drivers had come very close to Saul.
And the young man that told him, said: I came by chance upon mount Gelboe, and Saul leaned upon his spear: and the chariots and horsemen drew nigh unto him,
7 Saul turned around and saw me, and he called out to me. I answered him and said, ‘What do you want me to do?’
And looking behind him, and seeing me, he called me. And I answered, Here am I.
8 He replied, ‘Who are you?’ I replied, ‘I am a descendant of Amalek.’
And he said to me: Who art thou? And I said to him: I am an Amalecite.
9 Then he said to me, ‘Come over here and kill me. I am still alive, but I am enduring a lot of pain.’
And he said to me: Stand over me, and kill me: for anguish is come upon me, and as yet my whole life is in me.
10 So I went to him and killed him, because I knew that he was wounded very badly and would (not continue to live/soon die). I took the crown that was on his head and the band/bracelet that was on his arm, and I have brought them to you.”
So standing over him, I killed him: for I knew that he could not live after the fall: and I took the diadem that was on his head, and the bracelet that was on his arm and have brought them hither to thee, my lord.
11 Then David and all the men who were with him tore their clothes [to show that they were very sad].
Then David took hold of his garments and rent them, and likewise all the men that were with him.
12 They mourned for Saul and his son Jonathan, and they cried and (fasted/abstained from eating food) until it was evening. They also mourned for all the army of Yahweh, and for all the Israeli people, because many of their soldiers had been killed in the battle [MTY].
And they mourned, and wept, and fasted until evening for Saul, and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of the Lord, and for the house of Israel, because they were fallen by the sword.
13 Then David asked the young man who had told him [about the battle], “Where are you from?” He replied, “My father is a descendant of Amalek, but we live in Israel.”
And David said to the young man that told him: Whence art thou? He answered: I am the son of a stranger of Amalee.
14 David asked him, “(Why were you not afraid [that you would be punished if you] killed Saul, whom Yahweh had appointed [MTY] [to be the king]?/You should have been afraid [that you would be punished if you] killed Saul, whom Yahweh had appointed [MTY] [to be the king].) [RHQ]
David said to him: Why didst thou not fear to put out thy hand to kill the Lord’s anointed?
15 You yourself said, ‘I killed the man whom Yahweh appointed to be the king.’ So you have caused yourself to be guilty [MTY] of causing your own death!” Then David summoned one of his soldiers and said to him, “Kill him!” So the soldier killed him by striking him [with a sword].
And David calling one of his servants, said: Go near and fall upon him. And he struck him so that he died.
And David said to him: Thy blood be upon thy own head: for thy own mouth hath spoken against thee, saying: I have slain the Lord’s anointed.
17 Then David composed/wrote this sad song about Saul and Jonathan,
And David made this kind of lamentation over Saul, and over Jonathan his son.
18 and he commanded that it be taught to the people of Judah. [The song is called] ‘The Bow [and Arrow]’ and it has been written in the Book of Jashar:
(Also he commanded that they should teach the children of Juda the use of the bow, as it is written in the book of the just.) And he said: Consider, O Israel, for them that are dead, wounded on thy high places.
19 “You Israeli people, your glorious [MTY] leaders have been killed on the mountains! [It is very sad that] those mighty men have died!
The illustrious of Israel are slain upon thy mountains: how are the valiant fallen?
20 “Do not tell it [to our enemies in the Philistia area]; do not tell to the people who live in Gath [city] what happened; do not proclaim it in the streets of Ashkelon [city], because if you tell them, [even] the women in that area will be happy; do not allow those (pagan women/women who do not know God) to rejoice.
Tell it not in Geth, publish it not in the streets of Ascalon: lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph,
21 I hope/desire that there will be no rain or dew on the mountains of [the] Gilboa [area] [APO], and that no grain will grow in the fields there, because there the shield of Saul, the mighty [king], fell on the ground. No one rubbed [olive] oil on Saul’s shield;
Ye mountains of Gelboe, let neither dew, nor rain come upon you, neither be they fields of firstfruits: for there was cast away the shield of the valiant, the shield of Saul as though he had not been anointed with oil.
22 instead, it was stained with the blood of those whom he had killed, and the fat of mighty enemy soldiers was smeared on it. Jonathan [PRS] did not retreat carrying his bow [and arrows], and Saul always [defeated his enemies when he fought them] with his sword. [PRS, LIT]
From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the valiant, the arrow of Jonathan never turned back, and the sword of Saul did not return empty.
23 “Saul and Jonathan were loved and they pleased many people. They were together [LIT] while they lived and when they died. [In battles] they were swifter than eagles and they were stronger than lions.
Saul and Jonathan, lovely, and comely in their life, even in death they were not divided: they were swifter than eagles, stronger than lions.
24 “You Israeli women, cry about Saul; He provided beautiful scarlet/red clothes for you and he gave you gold ornaments/jewelry to fasten on those clothes.
Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you with scarlet in delights, who gave ornaments of gold for your attire.
25 “[It is very sad that] this mighty soldier has died! Jonathan has been killed on the mountains/hills.
How are the valiant fallen in battle? Jonathan slain in the high places?
26 Jonathan, my dear friend, I grieve for you; you were very dear to me. You loved me in a wonderful manner; it was better than the way that a woman loves [her husband and her children].
I grieve for thee, my brother Jonathan: exceeding beautiful, and amiable to me above the love of women. As the mother loveth her only son, so did I love thee.
27 “It is very sad that those mighty men have died, and their weapons are now abandoned!
How are the valiant fallen, and the weapons of war perished?
